ESOL with Citizenship

Before you can apply for naturalisation (citizenship) as a British Citizen you must take and pass an English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) course, with the additional Citizenship module, to demonstrate your knowledge of language and life in the UK. You must be able to show that you have a good knowledge of English and of life in the UK.

If your English skills are below ESOL Entry 3, and you are not currently in the UK as a skilled or highly skilled migrant, you must take this course and obtain a relevant qualification before you apply for settlement or citizenship.

We offer an ESOL course which can include the additional citizenship requirements. The course lasts a minimum of 5 days depending on the level of your ability with English, the initial assessment, and your individual learning needs. The training and test only covers speaking and listening (i.e. does not include training in reading and writing). We will also teach you the citizenship modules from the UKBA citizenship pack. Our teachers, all of whom hold a PGDE or PGCE, as well as considerable English language teaching experience, will assess your level at the outset and then make a learning plan for you. We will teach you until you progress to the next level as per Home Office requirements. Once you have progressed by at least one level, you are then required to obtain a relevant qualification in ESOL from an approved awarding body.

Before you can obtain this qualification you must attend a course as outlined above at an accredited college, which we are. Once you have attended the course with us, and progressed by at least one level, you will then need to obtain your qualification from the awarding body. Once this is obtained we will provide you with a letter confirming various details, and together with your qualification from the awarding body, you will have the evidence to show that you have met the Home Office requirements to support your application for naturalisation or settlement in the UK.

Once you have progressed on the ESOL Citizenship course we provide you do not have to do the Life in the UK Test and you can apply for settlement in the UK without needing to show again that you meet this requirement.

The Home Office and UK Border Agency require all ESOL students to complete the National Initial diagnostic assessment, which identifies a student’s level and any gaps in their knowledge, before they are allowed to take the course. From this information we create an individual learning plan for each student.